Basingstoke: Anoto UK to grow staff by 60% and move to larger offices

Hi-tech company Anoto, based in Chineham Business Park, Basingstoke, has announced plans to recruit 15 new staff this year and move to larger offices next month, as it continues to achieve high growth and build on the 10 new staff that joined the UK office last year.

Currently a team of 25 in the UK office, Anoto is experiencing increased demand for its digital writing and drawing technology, which allows people to record handwritten information or interact with software using digital pens on all types of surfaces, including paper, Ultra High Definition displays, interactive whiteboards and even walls up to 24-ft wide.

Demand for Anoto’s technology in the UK to date has mainly come from the healthcare industry, such as the Welsh Ambulance Service, which signed a deal last year for 1,700 Anoto digital pens, making it the largest project of its kind in the NHS. Ambulance crews use the pens to record patient information and then download it onto hospital computers.

Anoto is a prime example of a Basingstoke company recruiting high numbers of staff, contributing to the UK’s lowest unemployment figure since 2006. Announced by the Office for National Statistics last week, the figures stated that UK unemployment had fallen to 5.1%. Due to its ongoing success, Anoto recently featured on BBC South Today, as an example of a local business which is growing and recruiting new staff.

The company is also moving to new offices within Chineham Business Park to a larger, more flexible space, to accommodate the growth and create a state-of-the-art working environment for its staff and help to attract the best talent. The new office will also allow Anoto to better showcase its technology in a range of different scenarios to prospective customers.

Anoto is part of the Anoto Group, a Swedish company which has become one of Basingstoke’s hi-tech success stories, since it opened its UK office in Chineham Business Park in 2013. The UK office is responsible for a large amount of the global company’s software development and most of the new staff will be in software development, plus sales and admin.

“We chose to stay in Basingstoke for the new office move, mainly due to the fast transport links to London, the short distance from the M3/M4 corridors and the high volume of hi-tech businesses located here. This gives us a valuable talent pool from which to hire,” explained James Shannon, senior vice president of software development at Anoto, based in the UK office.

“As a large proportion of our software development is carried out in the UK, we need to be able to attract and retain the best-skilled professionals at our Basingstoke office, to help grow the company, not only in the UK but around the world too. Creating the new modern workspace at Chineham will play an essential role in this and help Anoto compete with the larger technology companies in the area, when it comes to hiring the best people.”

Anoto is leading the way in digital writing and drawing technology for business, as Shannon continued: “Using digital pens to record handwritten information or interact with software using human gestures are both on the rise across many different industries, as they allow greater efficiency, creativity and precision. Anoto is unique in that we can offer a single digital pen that works across paper, computer screens, whiteboards and walls, so we are in a strong position to take advantage of these trends and grow the business across many different industry sectors.”